1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the art of treating glass surfaces and more particularly to the art of treating glass surfaces with fluorocarbons.
2. The Prior Art
Fluorocarbons are well-known for their chemical inertness and their ability to provide a lubricating protective coating for other materials. Useful applications include such common items as TEFLON.RTM. polymeric fluorocarbon coated cookware and utensils. However, the same properties which make fluorocarbons desirable coating materials also make it difficult to form coatings from them. Since most chemical adhesives are ineffective to bond fluorocarbons, other techniques have been developed. For example, a fluorocarbon resin may be fusion bonded to a surface which has been mechanically or chemically etched.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,558,345 Baum et al teach a method of bonding a fluorocarbon resin to the surface of a silicate glass having free silanol groups by means of an intermediate amino-functional silane coupling agent. The method involves cleaning the silicate glass surface, treating the cleaned surface with an amino-functional coupling agent, applying a fluorocarbon resin to the treated glass surface, and curing the resin at elevated temperatures.